Why Your Creativity Needs Boundaries to Thrive

The first few years after I decided to take my creative writing seriously, I couldn't overcome the nagging feeling that my fiction was simply a glorified hobby—like knitting or fishing. Plenty of people helped reinforce that. I'd be at a party filled with people who worked sensible office jobs when someone would find out I was writing a novel and tell me they'd been meaning to take up the hobby themselves—if only they had more time. But it's hard to justify carving out time every day in your busy schedule for "just a hobby." Music wasn't just a hobby for Lou Reed. Creative work is hard. An interview with Godin appears in the book, Manage Your Day-to-Day, put out by 99U. 1. Setting aside time every day to do creative work keeps your momentum going. Cal Newport, a writer and professor at Georgetown University, calls these periods of uninterrupted creative work "daily focus blocks." 2. Most of us compulsively check email without stopping to think about it. 3. 4. 5.

A Glimpse into the future of learning Five Ways to Use Online Portfolios in the Classroom Our digital world is transforming the way we learn, and today's teachers are tasked with the challenging job of sifting through the deluge of educational technologies and creating a meaningful learning experience for students. In my 15 years in education, I've seen firsthand how opportunities and a little guidance can positively impact a person's future and change the life path they're following. In fact, as a result of serving on the San Francisco School Board, where I learned about the obstacles to education, I've seen how creating learning opportunities can impact a long-term digital identity. Next-generation education portfolio platforms -- such as Digication, Pathbrite, Taskstream and Epsilen -- are one way for teachers to start early and educate students about how they can manage their own academic and professional accomplishments. 1. 2. Sifting through the endless hoards of information on the Internet is becoming a necessary skill. 3. 4. 5.

10 Rules for Students, Teachers, and Life by John Cage and Sister Corita Kent Buried in various corners of the web is a beautiful and poignant list titled Some Rules for Students and Teachers, attributed to John Cage, who passed away twenty years ago this week. The list, however, originates from celebrated artist and educator Sister Corita Kent and was created as part of a project for a class she taught in 1967-1968. It was subsequently appropriated as the official art department rules at the college of LA’s Immaculate Heart Convent, her alma mater, but was commonly popularized by Cage, whom the tenth rule cites directly. Legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham, Cage’s longtime partner and the love of his life, kept a copy of it in the studio where his company rehearsed until his death. It appears in Stewart Brand’s cult-classic Essential Whole Earth Catalog, published in 1986, the year Kent passed away.